A cable tray supports electric power cables and/or data cables along a path above apparatus which receives the power cables and/or data cables from the cable tray. One type of cable tray comprises laterally spaced apart side rails which are connected by rungs along the side rails at spaced intervals of a few inches to many inches. The cables extending along the cable tray are supported on the rungs.
At spaced locations along the cable tray, apparatus to be served by at least some of the cables are located below the cable tray. Cables for connection to a particular apparatus are redirected by a cable dropout out of the bottom of the cable tray to extend toward the apparatus below the tray. A typical cable dropout for this type of cable tray includes a cable redirecting surface that is gradually convexly curved downwardly from extending horizontally or along the cable tray path to being directed downwardly toward the apparatus. The cables to be dropped out at a particular dropout location pass from above to below the rungs of the cable tray that precede the cables extending toward the dropout and, then the cables are guided against the curved dropout surface by which they are directed downward.
A cable dropout may be supported on a fixed position rung between the side rails of the cable tray. The cable dropout may start at or below the rung to which it is attached and curve downward. The dropout usually extends below the side rails of the cable tray.
For a known cable dropout, the only support for the dropout extending below the cable tray is its attachment at a rung between the side rails. When the cable dropout is used to redirect cables toward a particular apparatus below the cable tray, the cable dropout is likely attached to and supported on the cable tray rung that is closest to the apparatus below being served.
The desired spacing apart of rungs of a cable tray is a matter of choice for the particular application. Each cable tray has standard spacings between its rungs, which typically vary from a few inches to many inches. If an apparatus being served by a known cable dropout is below but not near enough to a rung in the path along a cable tray, so that the cable being dropped out does not extend approximately straight down to that apparatus or at a desired angle down from a tray rung and toward the apparatus, the cable may be undesirably long, or may be undesirably bent at the bottom edge of the dropout, or the cable may contact or interfere with another cable or object on the path of the cable toward the apparatus or be otherwise unfavorably placed for achieving best long term existence and maintenance. It is preferable to support the cable dropout and its curved surface above a selected location, such as where the cables to be dropped from the cable tray are most efficiently placed, according to the designer who is attaching cable to the apparatus. It is desirable that the cable dropout not be restricted to placement on the cable tray at the location of a rung.